Ache. Her head ached. When she sat up from the ground, that was the first thing she noticed. Miyuki was in the same spot as before, sitting at the front door of Maguro High. Aside from pain, the emotions that she felt were indescribable. Jumbled up into a ball they were. Actually, they were already jumbled up into a big rubber-band ball beforehand, but now it felt like someone took a knife to that rubber-band ball and watched it burst open like confetti. Her heart was still pounding, but it took a moment of her sitting there to gather what had gone on, her heart only racing further when she connected the dots: ("Paint covered shirt, large guys with weapons, front office...") Miyuki tried connecting, then went to check her right sock..."No..."

It wasn't there...

It was all gone...

That realization only made her feel worse. That knife was fully driven through that ball, releasing all of its contents for the world to see. The first year just sat there and did nothing but cry to herself, letting that feeling of grief, fear, and hatred manifest.

She was robbed helplessly, now with no way to afford for her lunch nor a change of clothes! But why her though? That was something she did not understand. How were these thugs allowed in the school building... wasn't the head master's office right there? Miyuki would turn her head towards the door to the front office. The lights inside were shut off with a note attached to the door. It was there earlier, but Miyuki never got the chance to look there and notice. After a moment of sobbing, Sekken rubbed her face, standing up, and shakily walking towards the door. She then took the taped note and pulled it off of the door to read it:

"The Administration's Office is closed today. Any due payments are to be turned in to Mr. Taro's classroom. Behavioral reports will see the headmaster directly. Uniforms or other necessary items are to be taken to the classroom across the hall from the gym.

Headmaster Sato"

("Damnit... damnit! The administration's office is closed?! How am I going to report these-... these thugs?! O-oh wait, I could go see the headmaster. Where is he though? It doesn't even look like his office's light is on in there...") Miyuki wondered, standing on the tips of her toes to look inside of the offices from the window. It is obvious he wasn't in the front office, so Miyuki was left with only the option of finding a spare change of clothes. It was in the room right across the gym, so it shouldn't be too far of a walk...

Miyuki slowly wandered down the halls of the school, hugging her arms to help comfort her from the cold air that brewed from the AC vents. The events of this day repeated in her mind who knows how many times while she walked to the designated spot. ("Why... why me? Why anyone? I gave this school a shot, I should just go home and transfer elsewhere...") Miyuki thought, scoffing at her adoptive mother's words from this morning.

'Let's just give this one a chance.... I can only help you as much as you'll let me.'

("Help. That is what I need. Help... maybe Seijo knows something about this!")

With that thought in mind, Miyuki felt much better than she did before. If the school wasn't able to fight against these thugs, then someone had to... someone undefeated. She needed someone who was strong and knew how to fight, so these delinquents could be brought down! No one else should be robbed blind like she was. Miyuki then sped up her pace even more, her feet lifting off of the ground as she pursued that room across from the gym.

The room was eventually in sight, Sekken speeding as quickly as she could towards it-

"No running in the halls young lady!" of course a teacher would bark out from one of the classrooms.

Miyuki jumped at the loud calling from one of the teachers, eyes wide open and immediately halting. "Heeeeeh, s-sorry about thaaat!" Miyuki awkwardly laughed, then immediately started to walk to her destination.

The room across the gym finally arrived. Looking inside, it wasn't that impressive... it was empty actually. It was about the size of a typical classroom, but there were no desks or chairs laid out. The brick walls were painted a flat white, mats or cushions were laid down on the bottom half of the walls. The middle of the room also had a large mat strapped to the ground. ("Weren't uniforms supposed to be turned in here? Why does it look so empty... Maybe this is the wrong room, I should look in the next one–") Before Miyuki could turn around, she would feel a force on her back, then was aggressively pushed inside of the room. The door slammed shut and locked before she had a chance to escape. In the window, she could see those same five guys standing there lined up shoulder to shoulder, watching.

"H-hey! You bastards! LET ME OUT!" Miyuki cried as she was thrown to the ground, instantly bursting up to her feet and making a sprint for the door, her hand thrown for the handle to pull. "LET ME OUT! LET MEEE OOOOOUUUT!!" She would beat on the door, but it was no use. The door was locked, these five guys just turning to each other and laughing at the show. "PLEASE! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" Miyuki would give a few more beats on the door, thrusting it so hard that the wooden door began to get small dents, but at the cost of her hand becoming unbearably sore.

These thugs would watch, not reacting to the trapped student and her plea-filled cries.

"Ay... Miyuki!"

'Oh no...', that was all that could be read on Miyuki's face. After the door was locked she had just lost all will to fight these guys. The last thing she wanted to hear though was that. Hell, she'd rather have her face plunged into the school bathroom's toilet than hear that. Hearing that was what made the location of the room finally dawn on her. ("This room isn't empty because it is the wrong room, it's empty because there was no room to begin with. This isn't the uniform closet, this is... THE MARTIAL ARTS CLUB ROOM!") Miyuki choked up at that realization, fearing to face who was talking to her from behind. ("Please no... I don't wanna do it mommy, I wanna go home!") she would then close her eyes, taking a deep breath in and spinning around to face the direction of the voice. "Seijo..."

"Welcome to the Martial Arts Club room, Miyuki! I hope you like mats, because we have tons of them in here" the tall second year student would say, who was in special martial arts robes.

"Why... what are you doing?" she would ask, her eyes beginning to slowly open to face her fear in the eye... for real this time.

"Isn't it obvious? We're gonna throw hands!" Seijo excitedly exclaimed, doing some quick jabs in the air followed by a right roundhouse just for show. "I wanna see what 'The Iron Leg' has on a martial arts master!"

"Y-you're kidding! You want to FIGHT?! Are you INSANE?! WE'RE AT SCHOOL!" Miyuki blurted, the first year's heart about to fall out of her chest again, if it hasn't already. Her? Fight? She's not even a fighter! She got her title from playing soccer, not martial arts! All of her life's fears manifested in this one moment: 1. The door was locked, she couldn't escape. 2. She's facing someone who is far superior to her in every regard. 3. Her clothes are ruined. 4. He wants to face her to see her title and not her person. 5. Every time she faces him, her anxiety goes through the roof, but today he was especially cold to her which only made it worse. What does she do? It does not look like she had a choice other than to do as he pleases... and no matter how hard her head throbbed, she was going to listen to her gut this time.

"School? Yeah, you're right, 'we're at school'. What you're not right about however, is everything else." Seijo would say, backing up to the edge of the mat.

"I-I... don't get it, is this about Manaka?! I said I was sorry!" Miyuki called out, then reached for the scarf on her school uniform and untied it.

"Anything I do, don't take it personally, kid."

"PLEASE! Just EXPLAIN what the hell your problem is, second year?!"

"Huh... okay okay, geez, you're so impatient." Seijo would say before sprinting off without warning, pulling a hand back as he sends a full force palm strike for Miyuki's chest.

"I'M SORRY I'M KINDA HAVING A PANIC ATTACK RIGHT NOW- OH SHIT!-" With that one strike she is sent tumbling backwards across the mat. What a fast movement! She almost didn't see the blow coming! With that single strike, she felt a great stinging pain in her chest. "I WASN'T FUCKING READY YET!" Miyuki cried, pulling the scarf off of her shoulders. Afterwards, she would take a deep breath, then getting into her (rather pitiful) image of a fighting stance.

"Heh... HAH! That stance is hilarious, you think you know how to fight? Oh wait, you don't" Seijo would run after Miyuki again, going for another palm strike for her chest at the same speed and force he did the last time.

This time however, Miyuki was mentally prepared, moving her body to the side to try and dodge the blow. Despite that, he was too fast, so she was tagged with the palm strike, though her movement minimized how much she would take. "Ooowww! God! Are you satisfied with hurting me yet?"

"Impressive, you almost dodged that.... almost" Seijo briefly admired, then threw his other hand out for a strike at her face.

Miyuki took the blow right to her face, the palm strike landing square on her nose before she could react. No words could describe the amount of pain that was, her nose suddenly shattering and dripping with blood. Miyuki bent down, muffling her screams in her hands which were covering the broken nose.

"Come on, is that it? Boss said it would be an easy deal, I guess they were right, huh?" Seijo would reach for Miyuki's collar, lifting her off of the ground to look straight into his eyes. "Coach Seijo is one of the greatest fighters known in Japan. It's only natural that I would inherit that same skill... I haven't even shown you everything, and yet you lasted shorter than Omo did!"

"Shut up... please... shut.. Up. My nose is fucking broken and one of my ribs might be too, aren't you satisfied?!" Miyuki cried in the most horrid cries one could know... she thought she knew exactly what kind of stubborn man Seijo was, but it turns out that he was more than just stubborn. He was evil.

"The mission as a guard isn't to just 'hurt' the violators. It's my mission to stop you from coming onto I-35 property ever again." Seijo slowly explained with the widest grin on his face, then throwing Miyuki back onto the ground.

"F-funny- I w-was just thinking about that! Fuuu-uunnyyy! Hahahahaha!" Miyuki stuttered as she desperately tried to gain balance. ("Wait, did he just say 'I-35'?")

"Obviously not hard enough!" Seijo said, throwing a high kick for Miyuki's chin.

Miyuki would try to duck to the right, the kick narrowly missing her head. "What is that even supposed to mean?!"

"Figure it out!" Seijo then brought his thrown leg backwards, curling it so it would knock into Miyuki's back to throw her towards him.

Helplessly, the teen was thrown towards him. All she could do was scream in pain as she was a helpless play toy to the trained fighter.

With Miyuki incoming, Erin would prepare a fist, throwing it to the side of the teen's skull.

Miyuki once more was helpless to his attacks, taking the punch and nearly blacking out from the amount of force behind it. "Please.... Please... stop. I'm... sorry."

"I heard that one a million times... but the boss doesn't take an empty 'I'm sorry'. If I don't do this, then my life is as dead as yours." With the nearly fading first year, Seijo would wrap the same arm he threw the punch with to wrap over Miyuki's neck, and hugging her to his chest in an arm lock. "Man, what a disappointment. I thought you were 'slippy sekken, the untouchable, 'the fearsome iron leg', no? To be fair, you're only good at soccer. Your skills are only good for a sport that you abandoned, that makes your strengths useless, doesn't it? I was looking forward to the match of two undefeated champs, you know... one that could actually give me a good fight, but all I got was this dead weight.

"The district may fear you on the field, but they ain't scared of you elsewhere, unlike the Boss who has the entire district in their reigns!" Seijo cheered, pressing harder on Miyuki's neck in an attempt to break it. It was then when he pressed harder that he would notice a sudden stinging pain in his chest. "O-OW! What the hell are you doing?!" Seijo shouted, loosening his arm lock and putting his arms back to push the first year away.

Once he let go of the arm bar, the martial artist would be met with a head-butt straight for his chin. "Ow-! Shit- hehe.. I may not be a fighter, but I know the golden rule, which is to never let your guard down!" Miyuki smirked, wiping blood off of her mouth as she took a stance.

"Why-" Erin then looked down, seeing his robes had teeth marks that tore right through the material and bit into his chest. "Y-You!..." Seijo would then take a deep breath in, calming down and letting out a gentle laugh. "Good. So you do know something about fighting. Thanks to you, I'll actually need to get stitches now... and maybe see a dentist." he would say before running a finger through his mouth, a shiny white tooth being revealed in his hand after it left his mouth. "Yep, I'll need to see a dentist." Seijo chuckled, then threw the tooth to the side as he took a more polished martial arts stance. "Maybe I shouldn't go so lightly on you. After all, if I get rid of you by the end of today then I'll get a bonus, which should be able to cover my lost tooth."

"I thought I-35 was a myth. I heard stories of it in Junior High, but I never thought it was true.. I never met anyone who was a part of it." Miyuki spoke while she was slowly circling Erin.

"A myth? It's been around for the longest time! That's why every school in the school district knows and fears us. Even Crazy Billy is part of I-35! I'm only one of the thousands who are given small tasks by the boss that runs this place. We operate in such ways that we get under the noses of the authorities and all of those tattle-tales who don't pay attention, like you." Seijo explained, his eyes tracing Miyuki's movements

"A delinquent gang gone wrong. Good to know... I just wanted to go to school, get some friends, go to college? Instead I go to school and get a bounty on my head for my dumbass meeting the wrong people at the wrong time. Good to know that I'm probably gonna die- scratch that, I will."

Seijo then spun around, throwing a flurry of chain punches towards Miyuki, aiming for vital spots on her head, chest, and diaphragm to get the upper hand. "Right you are! You brought this upon yourself by trying to take the boss' property!" Erin said before his eyes would widen. His punches... what happened?

Miyuki had moved backwards and ducked left, right, and under most of the blows when they came. Her movements were suddenly so fluid and precise, like as if Seijo were moving in slow motion. "Impressive! But I'm not done yet!" Seijo continued throwing punches in a tireless rain, now aiming lower in an attempt to predict where she was moving.

To his surprise though, Miyuki just kept moving backwards. Two of the strikes hit her chest and waist, the first year wincing from the pain, yet didn't halt like she used to... she was just staring and moving.

"How are you doing that?!" Erin shouted, then thrusting a full power uppercut for her jawline, clearly irritated by how she was suddenly avoiding him.

Right as the uppercut punch was thrown, Miyuki once again ducked dowards and to the right, getting a perfect view of a wide-open area on the martial arts master. From his head to his knee he was exposed, so Miyuki jumped in for another head-butt to Erin's chin.

Erin Seijo looked surprised for a moment, but that surprised face quickly changed into nothing more than relief. She fell for it. When Miyuki Sekken came in for the headbutt, he threw his leg upwards at full force. Sekken was thrown into the air, completely helpless for his follow-through attack. He then jumped upwards, curling his leg around and throwing a roundhouse to Miyuki that would send the first year into the wall.

Miyuki was helplessly punted for the wall, the stinging pain in her back now disrupting her deep focus. Noticing that she was being launched at the last moment, Sekken's arms were thrown to the wall to brace her impact and push her backwards. Miyuki crossed her arms mid-air, one leg bent backwards, the other was aimed straight above Erin Seijo in an axe-kick form.

Seijo was watching as Miyuki bounced back from his throw as if it had never existed in the first place. ("How is she doing this? There is no way you can logically bounce back from my kick like that! What happened to the weakling I was fighting a moment ago?!") Erin grimaced, holding his hands up to block the axe-kick. "I want to see your full strength! I will crush you at your best, you persistent rotten first year!"

"FIIIRREEEE!" Miyuki yelled, throwing the axe-kick down, reaching deep inside her for enough power to overcome Erin Seijo's block. She needed all of the gravity. All of the adrenaline. All of the speed. Miyuki cared about nothing but getting this torture over with.

Miyuki's kick and Seijo's block clashed in a mighty struggle, both giving their full power in the hopes of besting the other... but... it seems only one would stand out on top due to their naturally smarter play...

"YOU IDIOT!" Miyuki yelled, landing on the ground as she looked at Seijo, whose hand snapped from the force. "Even I know not to do that! Martial Artist Master my ass!" she teased, watching him

"ERRAAAGH, GOD FUCKING–" Erin cried, looking at his limp hand, then back at the first year who was teasing him for such a mistake. "Eheheheee... I'm not stupid... I am the strongest martial artist in the world! I am the son of Coach Seijo and I will stand victorious! I was blessed with the gift to never tire! I fight until the sun is down and then I fight some more! I LIVE AS THE CHAMPION AND I WILL DIE AS ONE!" Seijo proudly proclaimed, now charging once more for Miyuki Sekken, jumping upwards and thrusting a knee for her chest.

"I've seen attacks like that before. So predictable." Miyuki would boredly say, moving to the side as Erin Seijo missed her entirely. "This morning I deeply apologized to you for my mistakes. But, after today, I have learned that I really did nothing wrong... you're right, how can I trip on gravel that small? I didn't trip on that gravel, I was set up by you so you can kill me and get an extra pay day. I wasn't sure who you were earlier... but now I know exactly what you are: Insane."

"Wh-what?! There it is again!" Seijo called out, shocked. What went from shock however turned into amusement, saying: "Amazing... no wonder they call you 'Slippy the Untouchable'! I can't land a blow on you... you learn so quickly" Seijo would say, his body going at ease as he just closed his eyes and smiled. "The real reason why I wanted to fight you was because I wanted to see that ability for myself... you're not normal, Slippy." He would say in a lie with the exception of the last part. She truly was not normal, not in his eyes.

"You think I'm not normal? You're one to talk" she squinted, then reaching a hand out to grab the back collar of his robe. "Martial Arts Master my ass, I bet you ordered that black belt off of Ebay" she sarcastically remarked, then pushing with all of her strength to throw Seijo straight into the window head-first, knocking her opponent out swiftly in one overpowering move.

At last...

She could breathe. How did she manage to overpower him so easily? She didn't know. He was strong, yes, but something felt off about all of this. She was getting her ass kicked a moment ago, but now here she is, barely victorious. Was he a sham? Or was it something else? Miyuki didn't want to dawn on it for too long, because it wasn't like it mattered anymore. The fight was over, she could breathe at last, and embrace the fated result of her misfortune.

Miyuki closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose, then exhaling slowly through her mouth. Were those sirens she heard? Yeah, it wasn't a surprise that the authorities were coming. At least it was over though. Her second day of misery... over. After today she won't have to come back to the place she could only describe as a hell hole for how it has treated her. Hospital, jail, or even death, whatever it ended up being, Miyuki was embracing her fate with open arms if it meant she could just rest. Miyuki Sekken then finally succumbed to her injuries, collapsing onto the ground next to Erin Seijo.